Known hair-shaping appliances are usually equipped with an evaporator and are commonly referred to as steam-styling tongs or steam curling tongs. For example, German patents DE 100 12 194 A1 and DE 100 12 193 A1 each disclose steam styling tongs which, on that side of the shaping element which is located opposite the hand-held part, have a water tank from which water, metered via a dosing device, can be moved into or onto the evaporator, with the result that a surge or jet or steam passes out through the shaping element onto the hair wound around it. These dosing devices comprise a wick which passes out of the tank and, by virtue of the tank being pushed into the shaping element, can be moved in the direction of an evaporated surface and discharges droplets of water onto the latter.
Although these known steam styling tongs have proven widely successful, they are capable of improvement in a number of respects. First, the operation of the steam function is not yet satisfactory, in so far as the water tank has to be pushed into the shaping element, for metering purposes, by one hand, while the other hand holds the styling tongs firmly. This is often impractical if the steam styling tongs are being used, for example, at the back of the head. Also, the metering accuracy of the previously known dosing device is capable of improvement. The tank is intended to be pushed in via a deformable diaphragm, with the result that water pushes through the wick and is passed to the evaporator in the form of droplets. Since this is often more liquid than is to be evaporated, it is necessary to provide special means for feeding excess liquid back into the tank from the evaporator chamber.